For one and For all
by kanji-sensei
Summary: Being apart for almost ten years, Sakura and Syaoran are forced to work together again. Someone is out to kill Syaoran, but as they begin to track the murderer, they find out there is a connection that puts Sakura, as well as many other people in danger.
1. A New Beginning

A/N: Hi there! Okay…you could say this is my second and more sophisticated attempt at this fanfic. I erased my first one simply because I'm wholly rewriting it. If you've read the one I deleted you might recognize a scene or two but that will probably as much as you'll see of it. ) This is a brand new start!!

**SPOILER ALERT**: Anyway, once again it'd be a HECK of a lot better if you have read the manga's ending, especially for this chapter. If not, one of Sakura's thought will seem completely out of place. If you don't remember what she reminisces (a part about her father's and Eriol's past) as part of the TV show, then that's the Manga ending and surprise, surprise. You know how it ended now.

Happy reading!

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"I see one…." 

"Where?" A brown head lifted up from a state of drowsiness and her bright green eyes blinked away her sleep. She had been waiting for this for the past hour, it was about time.

"Above, up in that wall…" the other girl replied while pointing at the floating object. "I think it's gliding down." Both girls watched in amusement as their target descended.

"Wait…Do you think it'll land on him?" The brown haired one asked suspiciously, her green eyes squinting to get a clearer focus.

"Don't think so." Her taller mate responded.

"I bet it will…" The shorter one replied.

"Wanna bet? Lunch is on me if it does."

"Deal."

With that, the two girls watched timelessly as the blue fuzz ball slowly parachuted to their eye level, and just as the green eyed girl had predicted, it landed right on the professor's head.

"Hurray!" Sakura screamed.

One hundred and twelve heads turned their attention to the only person in the class that was standing in a stage of ridicule, where she played the buffoon protagonist. Sakura gulped as her mind raced to explain her random outburst. However, as athletic as she was, this race of thought was her demise and she stood in a state of shock with a bright red face.

"Kinomoto!" called the professor; who, for the first time in the entire semester, said something that did not sound monotone. "Would you kindly care to explain to the class your rude interruption?"

"Um."

"Um. Is not the right answer." Laughter finally began forming in the class. "Silence!"

And silence…. truly took place.

Within seconds Sakura noticed that her teacher's mouth was moving but curiously, no sound came out, and quite immediately, and much to her surprise, everything turned dark. A shiver ran down the girl's spine. Something was terribly wrong. Her hand reached for the key in her necklace but to her despair, she again hadn't worn it today.

Before her mind could start panicking at the situation she instantly felt cold, lacy fingers knot together around her neck and all of a sudden, only being able to let a small gasp out, she couldn't breathe.

As she struggled for freedom, the class in front of her vanished and, except for her professor who still stood there muffling noises, emptiness was completely surroundings her.

Her own choking sounds were the only sound she could hear and as the grip tightened she felt a fingernail dig into her throat and soon felt a cold drop of blood drip down her neck. She couldn't see her abuser, but there was not a single chance that he _wasn't _attempting to murder her.

She saw her teacher watching horrified and helplessly as the unknown person slowly killed Sakura. The lack of oxygen was slowly getting to her as a strange, freezing feeling came over her and numbed her body down. Strangely, the opposite soon took over and every part of her fried in pain: it felt like it was burning from the inside out. With a bit of fear she looked at her hand and the bright red color gave it away: she _was_burning inside out.

Panic struck her just as a familiar male voice screamed. As she looked down, before only seeing flames in front of her eyes, she saw that her professor had turned into what she remembered of a young man.

"_SAKURA!!!"_

Sakura's eyes shot open.

A strange tingle trickled down her spine together with some cold sweat, and as vivid as her fear had been a minute ago, her dream, together with her remembrance of it, was in a second gone. For a minute she tried remembering what had made her so scared, but thinking about it was giving her a headache more than anything and she dismissed it as a bad nightmare.

Tired, yet still a little agitated, she saw the rays of sunlight striking at her window and her green orbs traveled to her clock.

7:35 am.

'…' She closed her eyes and opened them again.

7:35 am.

Realization sunk in. "CRAP!" She screamed.

"_My name is Sakura Kinomoto" _

A little stuffed-toy looking animal slowly opened the drawer where he slept and stuck his head out of the girl's dresser. "Let me guess…" He said sleepily.

"LATE. LATE. LATE!!!" She squealed as she undressed out of her pajamas and threw some clothes on.

"As I thought." The little animal said before interning himself back to slumber.

"_I'm 21 years old and I'm a third year student at Jo-shu University. Today's my first day of my second semester, and as you can see…."_

"LATEEEEEEE!!!" She screamed again running to the bathroom to at very least brush her teeth.

"_I haven't changed all that much."_

Swirving from doorframe to handrail, Sakura raced downstairs where her father had already made her breakfast.

"Morning, dear."

"Morning!! Thanks for the food!" The girl replied with already half her plate down her throat once she sat down.

"_That's my dad, Fujitaka Kinomoto. He's probably the most amazing person I'll ever meet. He's nice, handsome, is the best cook I know, and teaches archeology at my school and is highly recognized for it. The school fees are much cheaper for me since he's a teacher there, but that's not the reason why I go there. My school is also very well recognized in Journalism, my major."_

"You better hurry or you'll miss your train." He warned teasingly.

"I know, I know!!" She answered taking a few more bites that finished her meal. The little one that had been sleeping upstairs floated down the staircase and landed on the table to begin his first plate of breakfast gluttony, muttering some complaint about Sakura's loudness between bites.

"You'll never make it." He stated a bit annoyed, taking a big bite out of his pancake.

"Don't jinx me!" She yelled.

"_This is Kero…he's…well you could say I'm his mistress. Forty years ago a powerful wizard named Clow Reed died and left his guardian and a stack of magical cards in a book that I found in my cellar and…well, I'm sure you know the rest of that story." _

"More please!" Kero demanded with only a halfful stomach and an empty plate. Fujitaka laughed and walked to his seat with another stack of hotcakes.

"_And him and my dad….hah hah, it's a funny story they've been acquainted for some ten years now. When I was eleven we found out that my dad was actually of two of Clow's reincarnations. The other one is a boy named Eriol that I haven't seen in quite a while. He was the one that informed us of this though. It turns out that all of Clow's powers still lied on this boy together with all his memories, and with my help he divided his magic and gave my dad half. Not that Dad will ever learn how to use it. Anyway, ever since then I slowly told my father the whole truth: about the Clow Cards, the Sakura Cards, Eriol, Clow Reed, and everything in between. It was hard for him to swallow at first, but he got used to it and he and Kero have actually become pretty good friends." _

"If you leave now, I think you might be able to make it, Sakura." Fujitaka informed her, looking at the clock. His daughter nodded hurriedly and ran to the doorway to take her skates out of the closet. Quickly fastening them on, she glided out the door.

"I'm going! Bye!"

Her white and pink roller blades raced through the streets giving her the speed to reach the train station on time.

"_My life seems pretty normal as of now, and truthfully, it really is. Nothing amazing has happened since the last card was collected. Tomoeda is still a sleepy little town and I've had no reason to use magic. Kero complains about it once in a while with his reasoning of 'use it or lose it,' but honestly, it's been ten years and I haven't even come in contact with another person with magic." _

The train got to the station as Sakura arrived and she jumped into it with skates on. She'd be scolded, but it was better than being late for class. As soon as she got in the train her cell phone's ringtone went off. The LCD screen read "Call from FRANCE" And, knowing that all the people around her would be annoyed of a conversation in the train, she took the risk and answered.

"Tomoyo, hi!!" she said quietly, flipping the phone open.

"Oh good, you're not in class yet!"

"Hopefully I'll _be_in class today…."

"Aww…late again?"

A big sweat drop of worry appeared on the brunette's head "…Anyway, how are you!?"

Tomoyo laughed at her friend's embarrassment on the subject.

"Well, my fashion show finished yesterday."

Sakura beamed.

"_That's Tomoyo in the phone. Her fashion design became so popular when she started promoting it in Japan that her mother traveled with her to Europe to open Tomoyo's first fashion line. She's been studying in Paris at a fashion school for a semester while she got her line started, and I guess done now. I'm so happy!"_

"How'd it go!?" Sakura asked.

"Good, good. I got mostly good reviews, so it's a great start." She said proudly. "It's been a long time so we need to catch up when I get back! Oh, by the way…Hiragiizawa hasn't called you by any chance, has he?"

Sakura arched an eyebrow. Eriol? She hadn't heard from him for years.

"Not at all, why?"

"It was the strangest thing. He randomly left me a voicemail on my phone. The thing is, I recognized his voice and the number was from England so I knew it was him. But the signal was so weak, I could hardly hear what he—"

The train went under a bridge and Tomoyo's girly voice turned muffled and harsh. A loud noise struck Sakura's ear and she pulled the phone away. Everything seemed so dark under the bridge. She pulled the phone to her ear again.

"Tomoyo?"

More muffled sounds and then….

"_SAKURA!!!" _ The girl's heart sank and a feeling of dejavu came upon her as she felt a cold tingle tightening on her neck.

The train resurfaced from the darkness and the feeling went away with the dark.

"Tomoyo!?" She asked urgently at the mobile.

"I'm here. Did the signal fade?"

"What was that?" Sakura asked, still alarmed.

"What was what?"

"The scream…" She said, now a little doubtful of herself.

"Scream? What scream?"

The brunette thought for a second and tried to recall what had just happened. Had it just been her imagination?

"Nothing…it-it must have been the phone losing signal."

Her friend giggled.

"It must've sounded pretty scary then."

"Yeah…" Scary was an understatement. That was the one of the most horrifying feeling she had ever felt. If the death reaper had a specific touch, she had just felt it.

"Anyway, sweetie I have to go, the limo just arrived at my apartment and I want to help bring my things up. But like I said, I did hear Hiragiizawa say your name in the message, so I think you should give him a call. I already tried to call back but just got his voicemail and I simply don't have time later today."

"Okay…I'll call him." She said mindlessly. The weird thing was that in a level, it seemed as if she had already felt that deathly touch before. But when?

"All right. I'll call you tomorrow to set up a date to see you soon, okay? I'll talk to you later, Sakura. Oh I can't wait to see you; I've missed you so much! Aur voir for now!"

"Bye…"

The phone call ended, but Sakura still held the machine up to her ear. She was frozen with either fear or worry.

"_It's strange…I have a feeling now, that things are going to slowly start to change. And I'm hoping, really hoping, that it will somehow be something that doesn't ruin the peace I've had for so long."_

* * *

Good? Bad? Change? 

Let me know!!

R&R!


	2. The Green Wax Seal

The Li house stayed quiet but fidgety, all bodies standing within fourty feet of the document that had arrived just a few minutes earlier. Its small size and simplicity would make a fool out of the naked eye, but the family had known better than to open it once they saw the green candle wax that had sealed the letter.

It was written, in basically bold letters in every book of the clan, that the clan's seal broken by _anyone_ but the council or the leader of the clan would be severely punished and publicly shamed. Hence, the three sisters had been forced to tame their curiosity and remain still. Although the contents of the letter were never discussed, it was common knowledge that they were never good news, and so, anxiety took a trip around the room, touching every face and heart except for maybe Yelan (the girls' mother) who had maintained a perfect poker face during the nervous wait.

The recognizable screech of the door at once bounced off everyone's ears, and before the twenty-one year old could take two steps into the living room, his four sisters has almost magically glided over to surround the table where the paper lied and sat around it like cats surrounding a piece of fish. Syaoran blinked twice and lost his balance a bit at his sibling's odd behavior, but once the corner of his eye caught the green wax seal, everything seemed clear. He looked up at his mother and bowed. She returned the gesture, and then her eyes then traveled to the coffee table; his followed.

He sighed, walking towards the little Chinese table. He knew what it was going to say. The night before, they had had another encounter with the family's oracle. She seemed terrified by his fate and told him to go into hiding. It wasn't typical of Syaoran to believe the elder woman since from a very young age she had always told him he was in grave danger. He'd grown to dislike her, and most of the time, ignore her, but for some odd reason, the premonition she had claimed to have had the night before, and the fear with which her eyes shook when warning him, seemed sincere enough to make a shiver run down his spine. In any case, the woman and his mother had had a private conversation and, although they hadn't told him what the subject would be, informed him they would be heading off that night to discuss "matters" with the council. He could have decided to go, if he really wanted to, but he had agreed to send Mei Ling off at the airport that night and was a bit more scared of his cousin's rage than of any kind of agreement the council might come to.

Four pairs of brown eyes looked up at him pleadingly as he stood in front of the table.

"So did you open it yet?"

All four seemed a bit offended.

"It's illegal.." Fei Mei explained with annoyance.

"It's not like that's ever stopped you from doing something because 'It was fun'"

"Watch it, Xiao-xiao." Xuehua warned quietly. "We're still your elders, little brother."

"Then act like it." He replied coldly. The sisters growled in unison.

Syaoran's temper had severely worsened since he became leader, and the house had become accustomed to it. They had lost a sibling and a son, but gained a good leader.

He bent down and grabbed the letter. With little hesitation, but a bit of nervousness coming out in the surface, he ripped the envelope open. He would be angry if the elders decided against his trip to Japan. They knew he would go either way, but without their unconditional help, it would make things much more complicated.

There were five papers in the package, one of them being an extra envelope, but following the rules of reading the notifications of a green seal, he began with the first page and worked his way down.

_There has been three more deaths reported in the last week. Two of our clan, one of a neighboring one. Master Li's residence will be under an extremely watchful eye after the occurrences. _

'_First set of bad news…._' Syaoran thought, passing the page.

_Consulting with international magic councils is now open to consideration due to the large number of deaths and liabilities the clan is suffering. All members of the council must meet for a decisional meeting tonight, Febuary 28__th__ in the Grand Hall at 1700 hours to vote for a final decision._

'_Second set of even worse news…'_ He continued thinking, growing more exasperated. Like the goddamn soon-to-be corpses ruling the council would ever allow the liberal idea of open border advisors. He flipped to the next page.

_Master Li has been granted permission to leave for the nation of Japan to-morrow at 200 hours. He will embark alone under a pretense name which the rest of the council will be informed of at a later time. He will meet a trustable source in Japan who will contact the clan tonight for final preparations. The trip is expected to last four months, with possible delays or early returns. The provisional leader will be Mistress Li Yeh Lang._

He either felt like a breath of fresh air had been forced into his lungs, or as if he suddenly had gotten pneumonia, but a tightening, GOOD feeling was growing in his chest. He had made it…

As soon as he looked up, he came across two of his sisters faces were hovering over the paper on their tippy toes to see if they could read it. Syaoran stared blankly, slightly amused and removed the pages from their eyes snobbily.

"What's it say!?"

"None of your business."

"Stop acting like a child." The eldest sister, Fan Ren who had been sitting the whole time, scolded.

"After you, big-sis."

"Xiao Lang…." Yelan started. Syaoran froze and gulped slightly. In twenty one years that voice always made him nervous.

"Mother?"

"Tell your family what news they have sent you." She asked, in an almost demanding tone.

He reluctantly handed the letters to the four girls but kept the last long envelope. He pulled it up, showing it to his mother. "My plane leaves tomorrow morning."

Ieran's eyes widened noticeably. "They agreed?" She asked, surprised.

"They agreed." He nodded. "Two o'clock in the morning. Couldn't have picked a cooler time." He added, annoyed. Before he knew it, four brown haired girls were fondling his every limb. "W-what do you think you're doing!??"

"I don't care that you're a brat!" Cried Fei Mei.

"We're going to miss you, little brother!"

"Our _little wolf_ is growing so big!!"

"Nyaaaaaaaah!!!!" They cried in almost perfect unison. Syaoran didn't know if to hug them or choke them.

Yelan looked at the clock that read 9:05pm and for the first time that night, she began to look uneasy. "Alright…" she said, getting his attention. "Please tell me when you're all packed, I will come with you to the airport."

Ignoring the three bodies he was tangled in, he nodded again and locked eyes with his mother. For an instant, they both smiled.

"Are you finished, young lord?" An older butler asked Syaoran. He had been patiently waiting for the young man to escort him to the airport.

"I'm waiting for Meilin to call…I want to make sure they're okay in Taiwain." He said, flipping his mobile open again with a little hope, and then closing it with a bit of disappointment.

Wei smiled. His young master had incredibly matured over the past few years. It made him feel even more like an old man. "It was very considerate and wise of you to send them into hiding, young lord…"

"They're my responsibility, besides…" He started "…I would never forgive myself if something happened to them when I wasn't able to protect them."

Wei nodded with tender eyes. "And you are sure you won't need me in Japan?"

"I'll be fine…Mother's been ill, she'll probably get worse with the stress of being the leader again now. I want you to attend her needs since she'll be taking care of the clan while I'm away."

"Young master, your mother—"

"Refuses to admit she needs help? Wants you to come with me instead? Yeah I know. If she wasn't so stubborn it wouldn't have taken me so damn long to get the council's approval to go to Japan." He said; his glance pointed down at his cell phone once again.

"You should know that _all _parents worry about their children's lives when they're in danger"

Syaoran looked up and cocked an eyebrow at the man who had been taking care of him for as long as he could remember. "I'm twenty one for Pete's sake…." He said, typing Meilin a text message.

"Still a baby in her eyes." Wei refuted, grinning. Syaoran slapped his own forehead and surrendered in the argument. Wei was right. He would always be too young in his mother's eyes. She had been close to send someone to kidnap Fuh Tie's fiancé before she got married.

"I believe she worries the most because it is you that is independently chasing after the supposed murderer." The butler continued.

"If I don't, no one else will. I can't just sit waiting, I need to get him before he gets _me_."

Wei cringed and digressed from the conversation.

"Young lord, we need to be in the airport in half an hour."

The leader of the Li looked up at the clock on the wall and groaned. "I know…Send a message to my hotel room when I get to Japan if she calls."

"I will as soon as the call comes."

"Alright…" He said, grabbing his moderate sized luggage. He took a deep breath, thinking for a second that taking this trip was either doing something extremely brave or extremely stupid.

Wei coughed. "Young master…."

"Hm? Yeah?"

Wei hesitated. Impulsively, he stepped forward and put his arms around the boy.

"…W-wei?"

"You've always…been a son to me. If you need me for any reason, please do not hesitate to call."

A chuckle formed in Syaoran's throat. "I'll be fine, Wei." Nonetheless, he returned the tight hug for a couple seconds.

His cell phone rang. He scurried out of the man's arms hurriedly and ran to his phone, flipping it open.

"Meilin!?"

"_Meilin?" _The masculine voice on the other side of the line asked, laughing a little. "_Not quite, my cute descendent._"


End file.
